TRAFFIC authorities are urging caution on the north coast highway as the death toll mounts on the recently completed corridor linking Negril in Westmoreland with Port Antonio in Portland.

“The major factor for crashes along this roadway is excessive speeding,” Kenute Hare, director of the Road Safety Unit (RSU) told Auto.

Since the start of the year, at least 17 people have lost their lives in traffic crashes on the section of new highway between Ocho Rios in St Ann and Orchard in Hanover.

“People need to adhere to the road signs and markings along this corridor,” Hare commented.

“If motorists adhered to the signs, the crashes along this roadway would be far less,” he added.

According to the RSU, deadly sections of the smoothly paved roadway include Braco in Trelawny, the Queens Highway in St Ann and the Liliput and Rose Hall main roads both in St James.

Earlier this year medical doctors at the Annatto Bay hospital in St Mary drew attention to the increased number of trauma cases at the institution, resulting from traffic crashes along the new highway.

In the meantime, traffic fatalities since January 1 have reached 156 from 144 crashes, according to RSU data. This represents a 25 per cent decrease over the same period last year when 207 people were killed in 180 traffic crashes.